Darkness
by Orochi-Ne
Summary: He was a child of the dark. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the light.
1. Camp

**A****uthors Note: Eh. Something just as a side project. This _would've_ been the main character of my first Percy Jackson fanfic. But, I decided against it. So, he'll get a one shot. I might, make it a series of one-shots showing diffrent parts of his life. You know, if it's well recieved. Uh.. If you would like me to continue, Drop me a review? Maybe, tell me a topic you'd like to see and I'll approach it. Anyway, enough of this, tell me if you love it or not. **

**Darkness**

_Camp Half-Blood_

He hated it here but, couldn't help but to love it at times. Like every other camp in the world, it had its ups and downs. Most of the people inside the camp were cocky because they had high class gods as parents. Others were always complaining about how, there parents never got the true respect they deserved.

But, he wasn't anything like that. He knew who his father was. Secretly, he had always known. They way he dressed and for that matter acted gave it away. Even if most people chose to ignore it and always say he was a child of Hades.

That was never the case, in his mind. Children of Hades were normally pale and had an interesting dark passion that showed in their eyes. He wasn't pale and passion was something he thoroughly lacked.

He could _sometimes _understand why people would confuse him for one of Hades' children. He normally wore nothing more than a pair of black jeans and maybe a black shirt or jacket. He would wear a sweater vest on occasion. He had a strange thing for sweater vest. Nerdy but, classy he would say.

But, Hades was out of the question for being his father. Hades was king of the underworld, God of the dead and death for that matter.

The underworld thing was the first problem. The children of Hades had a strange tendency to smell like death, the underworld, and limestone. He smelled nothing like that but, he did have his own scent. It was a cooling scent some might say.

The second thing that separated him from the zombie children was that he couldn't tell when someone had died. Hell, he could barely tell the difference between when someone was sleeping and when they were truly dead. He had to talk his way out of a lot of situations because of that fact.

Final reason and this to him was _the_ most important reason. He could never- and for that matter will never be able to summon an army of bones and mud to help him fight.

Though, he didn't need any help in a fight. He mostly steered clear but, when it came down to it. He could go blow for blow with most people at camp- except the Ares cabin. They freaked him out. They acted more like savage pigs than people.

People often wondered who his parent was. If they paid any real attention to him as a person, it would've been obvious.

He rested quietly underneath the tree, which rested a few feet away from the large bank of water inside camp. He would've gone out to join the other children in their frivolous games. But, the sun disagreed with him in every since of the word.

That and after the much hated release of the books about creatures that lead people to believe he was a vampire.

"_Real_ vampires do not sparkle."

He couldn't help but snarl quietly to himself. Being compared to something like _that_. He exhaled gently, and glanced around. He was getting looks again. Chiron had told him that, he should try and socialize. But, he didn't listen- he _never _listened.

"Gavin, shouldn't you be learning about Greek history?"

His eyes half opened as he glanced at the figure that rested outside his sanctum of shadows under the tree. He couldn't help but give a faint smirk. One of the few people at camp, he couldn't stand. He didn't like being bothered, not during the day at least. It irritated him for some reason.

"Not sure, shouldn't you be off with that Jackson kid?"

Annabeth Chase, daughter of the goddess of wisdom: Athena glared at him. She was simply trying to be helpful. He didn't have to be an ass about it. She turned on her heels and stormed off.

He groaned to himself. One thing he knew about himself, he could be a real asshole without really trying. He closed his eyes back.

"I'll apologize later." He told himself. Though, he wasn't sure if he meant it.

He could hear the giggles of the Aphrodite cabin, working on a love potion or something more than likely. The grunts of the Ares cabin as they clashed swords. And last, the overly annoying sounds of the poetic sayings of the Apollo cabin.

Though, you'd have to be deaf to call what they did 'poetry'. The sounds of camp began to slowly work away at his brain. He exhaled. Maybe if he ate something, it would help calm him down.

He closed his eyes and allowed the shadows to swallow his body. He'd done this plenty of times. The shadows had now completely wrapped around him and he was sinking fast. His body disappeared within the shadow of the large tree. As if he was never there.

* * *

He rose up from the shadows that rested in the lining of the mess hall. He stepped out, startling a few campers here and there. He grabbed an apple from a large platter followed by allowing a cup of black coffee formed in front of him.

He turned once he had everything in his hands and made his way towards the door. The sun was starting to set down. He couldn't help but allow a dark smile to form on his lips. It was almost the time of one of his favorite goddess.

Nyx was her name. The goddess of the night, she had a lot in common with his father. He walked through the door of the cafeteria. He was okay with walking through public at this point. It was darker than it had been.

His body shifted as he headed towards his favorite spot. The illustrious big house, he had to do it quietly or else he'd be caught by the lovely Dionysus. It didn't take much for him to get to the top of the big house. It was like second nature to him now. He'd been doing it for almost a year.

He sighed and sat down taking a well deserved bite of his apple. He gave a low yawn as the sun set down behind the horizon. Now, it was time for his favorite part of the day: night. He raised his free hand gently and watched as a faint mist swirled around his form.

He couldn't be caught that easily. He watched quietly as the stars began to light up the night sky. He had a thing for astronomy. He sighed out and glanced down at the ground.

Tomorrow would be a new day. Maybe, just maybe he'd apologize to Annabeth. As of now though, he was going to watch the stars. And think about his life and where in the name of Hades he was going.

But, through and through one real thing would remain constant. He was a child of Erebus. And, that was something that would never change. All in all, he had to admit. He did enjoy camp a little more than he put on.


	2. Friendship

**Authors Update: A fairly simple revision. Nothing's change 'cept you know the grammar. Thanks to Mission to Marzipan for beta'ing this chapter! 8D**

**Darkness**

_Friendship._

Now that was an interesting thing in his mind: having friends. It was something that he didn't think was actually needed but most said it was good to have them. Though, being alone was fine with him. The darkness was all he really needed or at least that how he felt in his mind. Chiron had always tried to persuade him to join in with the other campers but that wasn't his style.

The closest he actually got to spending time with other campers was when he almost sliced off Percy Jackson's head.

It was an _accident _or at least, that's how his version of the story goes. Jackson kept saying different crap about his father to try and get him 'motivated'. So, he showed him the result of his excessive pestering. He took his sword and tried to make a clean cut at his throat.

Of course it didn't work, what with the whole 'I'm immortal nothing can hurt me' thing. But that didn't stop him from trying to dismember him. At the end of the day, Jackson was standing there with a grin and he got punished for being 'too rough'. And the more he thought about his punishment, the more he felt it was unfair. After all, they were half-bloods.

But he was the positive type when it came to things like this. He used it as a learning experience. So now whenever he got into a fight with that Poseidon punk, he just used two swords and attacked him like a rabid hellhound that had been deprived a meal.

A dark smirk played across his lips at the multiple memories he had of fighting Jackson. What good times. He came to a stop directly in front of the Big House and sighed to himself. Chiron had asked that he come see so, they talked about his recent behavior.

The door opened and he stepped through silently. His eyes wandered around the small room. Chiron gave him a solemn look, like a weary look that a teacher shouldn't be giving to a student.

Gavin glanced at Dionysus and couldn't help but to click his tongue.

"It's nice to see you again, Chiron. You hardly come to visit my cabin anymore."

Chiron almost looked offended. But it wasn't like he was lying. The centaur had stopped coming around after he had been claimed. If he was requested to come to the Big House, another camper would tell him, never Chiron directly.

His body moved forward before taking a seat in an empty chair that rested in front of him.

"So, what're we talking about today?"

Chiron turned in his wheelchair to face him.

"No need to act innocent boy. We know what you did. "The God of wine was starting at him with a strange intensity. His brow cocked upward some.

"Gavin we're here today to speak about your multiple acts against the Ares cabin." Chiron said in a stern voice.

"What're you talking about, Chiron?"

Grape vines slowly started to wrap around his figure. It was obvious; Dionysus wasn't buying what he was saying.

"Wow, you guys are great at good cop bad cop."

Chiron sighed heavily. "Gavin until you tell us the truth, punishment is my only option."

Gavin tilted his head ever so gently to glance at Chiron. "Wait, you're going to punish me for telling you the truth? That seems backwards."

The vines curled tighter around him.

"Gavin just tell us where you put the cabin!"

He closed his eyes gently and sighed out. This was a hopeless battle. They knew what he had done so it was best that he just come clean.

"If I remember correctly, they're at the bottom of a lake. Maybe Percy Jackson can get them out. You know, after all he is your _favourite _student." The vines were slowly slithering off his body. Chiron stood to his full height, his body shifting from its chair into full-blown horse man mode.

"We'll discuss your punishment once the Ares cabin is safely returned to their cabin."

"What do you mean punishment? You told me if I told the truth, I wouldn't be punished!"

But his call fell on death ears. Chiron and Dionysus were already running to the aid of the other campers. Well Chiron was; Mr. D was more than likely trying to see them drown.

His body was trembling. They always seemed to ignore when something was wrong with him. He shot upward from his chair and made a dash into the shadows that rested between a large bookshelf and the wall. His body smashed against the darkness and he was gone.

He resurfaced in the training grounds. Not many people were around but the one person he needed was. His back was to him. Greasy black haired etched out his skull. He was one of the only children of Hades at the camp. The two dressed a lot alike. Of course, Gavin dressed better.

"Hey, corpse breath. You mind helping me out?"

The figure that rested in front of him turned around, a dark grin playing over his face. The son of Hades extended his hand outward and forced a large hole to open below him. A bone club extended outward. His fingers curled around the large bone and pulled it out the ground.

He didn't have some type of fancy way to summon his weapon, like his foe did. His fingers gripped onto the hilt of his sword before pulling it out of his sheath.

"I hope you're ready, corpse breath."

The silence was all the answer he needed. He pushed off the ground and rushed inward. His blade met the club and the two began to clash against each other. The force of the two began to take effect but it was obvious neither of them wanted to give in.

The boy he was fighting, Nico di Angelo was the only person at camp he would even talk to or for that matter that would talk to him. Both of them were alike. They know what it's like to live within the dark with nobody around. Each of them had parents with overly high expectations.

To him that's what made Nico such a good friend. He didn't ask what was wrong, he didn't want to talk. The two of them had one means of talking when something was wrong. Fighting, real men talking with their fist was the motto. They helped each other get better, by releasing anger.

He didn't like saying he had friends but the infinite clashing of their weapons led him to believe otherwise. Shadows danced around the two of them as they clashed. Each one seemed to tell a different story. The story that was their lives, a story clasped completely in darkness. Nobody else around understood.

In a way, each of them was an artist. The shadows were paintbrushes and the battlefield was the ultimate canvas. They had all the time in the world to paint whatever they wanted into reality.

So yeah, maybe he didn't believe in real friendship. But having a walking zombie for a friend might not be that bad.


	3. Family

**Authors Note: Huh. I love this chapter honestly. Seems like I'm actually using some of the original characters. In any case get to reading will you? Tell me what you think of it. PS: Thanks to Mission to Marzipan. Why? Because he's awsome. The end.**

**Darkness**

_Family_

Family meant a lot to him but at the same time it meant so little. His family was separated and highly dysfunctional — well, the mortal side at least. The immortal side was fairly sane. Daddy dearest did his job of bringing night and mist to the world and normally did nothing else. Nobody, not even the other gods, really knew anything about his father. The only one that did was Nyx and that was only because, she was his wife.

Maybe it was because nobody knew of his father that made it so interesting when he was claimed. A dark smile played onto his lips as the memory of that slowly began to creep back into his mind. How could he have forgotten that day of all things? That was the day he stopped fitting in at camp, the same day that he stopped existing and started living.

It was a day just like all the others he had back then. He woke up in the Hermes cabin, dragged himself to the mess hall, and listened intensively to one of Chiron's many boring morning lectures along with Mr. D's usual 'I hope you all die' speech Within a few minutes he was out of the door and headed towards his first and least favorite class of the day: sword fighting.

Taking a seat on the grass below he waited for the class to start. There really was only one person that could teach the class. A daughter of Ares who looked like a pig or, in other words, _Clarisse La Rue. _For some reason, he found himself being afraid of the Ares cabin. They ate too much, they had a thing for being loud and they were brutal fighting machines.

"Shut up and listen." That was the command Clarisse gave to everyone that attended her class. She normally picked one victim — 'volunteer' — to assist her with the class. Her eyes scanned silently over the crowd of newbies she could choose from but with a dirty grin her eyes landed on the kid who seemed to be sitting away from the group.

"Hey kid." With a finger she pointed in his direction. "Get your ass up here, Gavin." He sighed to himself. The gods were sadistic, they had to be. If they weren't, one of them would've changed her mind about picking him for this torture fest.

Standing in front of the rest of the group was fairly simple. But standing in front of the class while having Clarisse pound you into the ground and yell at you to stand up? Now, that was a different story.

"Come on runt! Pick up your sword and face me. Be a real man!"

Gavin got to his feet wobbling; he gripped the sword and waited for Clarisse to make a move. That in all realism didn't take long: she was rushing at him the moment he grabbed his sword. She was relentless in every meaning of the word. Slash after slash with no sign of stopping. With a push and a simple shove he fell backwards to the ground.

Clarisse grunted before wiping sweat from her brow. When she picked someone to do battle with she expected no, _demanded _a real fight.

She snarled before turning away from the boy that rested on the ground before her. "You might as well go back to the Hermes cabin. It's no wonder your parent hasn't claimed you. A runt like you would more than likely just fuck up their family tree."

That was all it took, a slip of the tongue and he was on his feet. "Take it back."

Clarisse glanced over her shoulder sneering to herself. "Make me, runt."

He was trembling — this wasn't like him to actually care about insults. Normally, he received about five to ten a week. But she had gone entirely too far. The subject of not yet being claimed even though he'd been at camp since he was seven was a fairly touchy subject.

"What is it? You plan on making a move?"

Thoughts had passed through his mind. Several thoughts, each one depicting something he could do to Clarisse to make her pay. That's when it came to him, an idea that was so simple it would make the Athena cabin scoff at the low level of brain cells it took to come up with it.

What was the best way to make a child of Ares pay? Simple, beat them at their own game. He growled and picked his sword up from the ground. Clarisse grinned, turning around to face him. "Well? Come on boy." That was all he needed; with a low grunt he was rushing forward.

Spinning his sword he went in with a stab to her chest. Clarisse brought her sword up to block the attack but, found that she was slowly sliding backwards. His teeth were clenched and he was giving everything he had. Without Clarisse's (or for that matter his own) notice, shadows were starting to swirl around them.

The fight was starting to get intense and the group that had gathered around the two were enjoying every second of it. Well — they would have enjoyed it had it not been for the whole 'scary shadows keeping them away' thing. With a flick of his sword Clarisse's own weapon went flying.

Most of the crowd gasped in shock. Gavin was breathing hard, gashes covering his body.

He held the sword outward to Clarisse's neck and grinned. "Admit it."

"What?"

"Admit that I beat you."

Clarisse's face gleamed with anger and she was just about to pounce on him when a coin appeared above Gavin's head. His eyes followed hers and he looked up just in time to see the spinning black holographic coin disappear from over his head.

Chiron had been watching the entire thing and many of the campers had turned to him to explain whose son Gavin was. The old centaur huffed before speaking.

"Erebus, god of darkness and mist."

Everyone that sat in the arena stood quietly. Many of the campers had never heard of Erebus: they figured he was just another minor god that didn't get much attention. It seemed much more interesting for Gavin to be a child of Hades, which was the rumor that had been spread around camp up until now.

Nobody seemed to think anything of it. But to Gavin it was _huge_ deal. Erebus wasn't his first choice of a godly parent. Though looking back it made the most sense.

From that day forward he made a vow to himself, something secret that not anyone else knew about. Well — nobody but his father anyway. He'd bring honor to the name of Erebus. It was a personal quest; he would show everyone that the minor gods were just as important as the main gods. Now, if only his father would give him a brother or sister to help him in the quest. He was just one kid after all.


	4. Family V2

****

A/N: Yet another chapter I find myself loving. I think I might be done with the oneshots - You know, unless I can get some more topics. Anyway, a special thanks once again to Mission to Marzipan. For being an amazing reader, beta, and friend. 'Nough banter, enjoy.

Darkness

_Family 2.0_

He tapped his fingers slowly against the glass that rested on the table beside him. A bored sighed passed between his lips. This was _really _aggravating; she knew he hated waiting and was more than likely doing this just to make him angry. His eyes wandered over to the large plate-glass window to his left. It was honestly taking every ounce of his being to not stand up, run into the glass and see how long it would take him to fall.

That would've been a lot easier than just sitting here in the waiting room of his mother's office. At least if he decided to jump he could've had a fun time falling. But with this he just had to sit and listen to the typing of his mom's secretary, who was typing and talking as loud as possible just to annoy him. Or maybe that was just how he felt because of the waiting.

A door opened and a man stepped out with a smile on his face. Gavin's mother stepped out soon after; she brushed a stray hair from her face as she waved off her latest client. She turned, stepping past her son without so much as batting an eye and headed towards her secretary's desk.

"Is there anyone else for today, Jason?"

Her secretary glanced at Gavin before looking back up at her. He gave his sweetest smile before shaking his head. "No ma'am. You're all done for the day." She nodded her head before turning back into her office and slamming the door behind her. Gavin's brow twitched as he glanced over at Jason who was wearing a faint grin.

"She knows I'm here. Why can't you just let me go in?"

"Quite simple my darling little Gavin, you didn't make an appointment," he said sarcastically.

Gavin sighed and placed his fingers on his temples. This was really starting to get ridiculous. She knew when he was coming; as a matter of fact, she had been the one that told him what time to show up. He had to admit, his mother was a master at the legendary art of bad parenting.

"How long will it be before I can go in?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders and clicked his pen before scribbling something down. "She'll be out eventually. Until then why don't you come over here and keep me company?" Gavin's brow twitched as he sighed, shaking his head. He would just wait until his mom came out. There was no way she could stay in there forever.

After about an hour of waiting he had devised several ways to kill himself, each one more gruesome that the last. Though personally he favored the first idea he thought of: jumping off of the building and seeing just how many things he could hit before the ground reached him. Just when he was finally content thinking about the numerous deaths he could have, his mother's door opened and she came walking through before glancing at him.

"Let's get this whole thing over with," she said in a harsh tone.

Gavin glanced at her before huffing and getting to his feet. "Whatever you say, master." His mom glared at him before continuing onward towards the door. The two walked for what seemed like hours (which to a normal person was about five minutes) in awkward silence until finally reaching her car.

Gavin frowned before shaking his head. "Mom, I don't think me riding with you would be wise."

She glanced over her shoulder as she opened her car door. "And why not, afraid I'll drive off a cliff and leave you in the car?"

He rolled his eyes and faked a laugh. "No, I'm afraid I'll take my sword and slowly try to dismember you while you're driving. Despite the fact that it won't hurt. It'll annoy the Hades out of you."

His mom shook her head before sitting in the car. She looked backwards through her mirror and watched Gavin summon the shadows to create a black portal. She rolled her eyes, scoffing quietly, "Well, I guess we both know were you got your powers from, huh?"

He personally thought her sarcasm was very touching. "No shit and now that you mention it. The more you talk, the more I realize where the asshole in me came from, thanks mom!" Before she even had a chance to respond he stepped through the large black portal and disappeared into the darkness.

With a slam of her door she growled and looked up at the disappearing portal. She started the car, backed up, and zoomed out of the parking garage.

**xOx**

The look of his old house brought back quite a few memories. He stepped out of the portal and glanced around, checking for any sign of his mother. Before he even had time to walk towards the door his mother pulled up and parked on the sidewalk. She arched her eyebrow as she passed him.

"Planning on going in or something?" she asked with a faint smirk on her face.

"Well, I think it's fairly dumb to just stand out here."

With a sigh she put the key into the door and pushed it open. A small figure bounded down the stairs and jumped into his mother's arms. His eyebrow arched at the sight of his mother smiling at his younger half-sister. A smile was rare for him mom — or it was only rare when she was with him?

"How was your day, sweetie?" she asked affectionately.

His little sister smiled before giggling. "It was fun! I made a new friend today mommy. She showed me how to hold a bow."

He chuckled; it was obvious who the woman was before his mother even had a chance to react. His younger sister's birth, unlike that of his own, was planned. That was in all realism a reason why his mother preferred his younger sister to him.

"What was the girl's name?" his mother asked her eyes filled with glee at the question. She had a decent idea of who it was but wanted to be sure she was right.

"Are- Art— Artemis, that was it! Her name was Artemis."

His mother nearly screamed with glee as she hugged her _favorite _child. This had been what she'd always wanted — her daughter to follow in her footsteps and join the hunt.

Gavin's lips curled into a dark smirk. That was supposedly a happy moment for his mother: the goddess of the hunt was inspecting her daughter. She had every right to be that happy right? After all he came out a boy instead of a girl.

The story of his mother was one he felt that he couldn't do justice. She was born in the eighteen hundreds and was eventually recruited by the goddess Artemis after being abused by her father, though with Artemis the term 'abuse' could've just been a simple form of punishment. But in any case Artemis took her and trained her to be a hunter.

However, after so long, his mother grew tired of the hunt and decided to leave it behind for the mortal word. She went onto college and met his father. Though, unlike most demigod stories it wasn't a love story or anything of the sort. There were two words that could sum up what it was that his mother and father shared: drunken sex. No love, no real emotion, just a one night stand. Maybe that in itself was reason that his mother didn't like him — well that and the fact that he was a boy.

He sighed quietly to himself watching the happiness that she and his younger sister shared. This was something he never got to experience but he wasn't jealous of his sister. In all realism he was happy for her. She got to experience something he would never get the chance to enjoy, the love of a mother — the love of _his_ mother.

With a turn he was heading towards the door. They didn't need him here right now and honestly, he didn't need to be here. This feeling of family love was something he couldn't feel with them. He gave a bitter smile as he slipped out of the house via the shadows.

Once he was outside he pulled out his cell phone, which was comprised of celestial bronze. The Athena and Hephaestus cabins had combined efforts to make a phone that demigods could use. He dialed a number and pulled the phone upward to his ear.

"Eh — Hello?" a female voice answered him through the phone.

"Hey do you mind if a come over?"

A low sigh echoed in the phone followed by the sound of moving and a soft groan. "I was trying to sleep but, yeah sure come on over," the voice finally responded.

He closed the phone once he had his answer and began moving forward. Memories of that scared little kid he used to be back at home played in his mind. He remembered it all, the concept of growing up in the darkness, the feeling of hating everyone for having someone and finally the feeling of accepting and learning to let go of his hate.

By turning away and leaving his mother and sister to their joy, he had actually let go of everything. He wiped a stray tear from his eye and sighed out.

"Wow, I almost forgot I could cry." He thought quietly and bitterly to himself.

His body came to a final halt a few feet away from his house. He nodded to himself before glancing back at the place he once called home. This would be it, his final goodbye to his mother and to his life of hating her for not actually being a mom.

The shadows swirled around him before latching onto his body and pulling him down into the darkness. He couldn't help to give a dark smirk — after so many years, she was still the only person to ever make him cry.

"I'd suppose some things never change, right mom?" He chuckled to himself as he vanished from the world and sunk completely into his father's realm. The realm of _darkness_.


	5. Hero

**A/N: I'm fairly proud of myself. This is my first completed fic and I think it has to be one of my best. With this ending of course, I can get back to work on my main project. As always a _VERY_ special thanks to my Beta and my personal friend, Mission to Marzipan. Dude, you really are amazing. Anyway onward and upward.**

**Darkness**

_Being a hero_

The shadows had long since opened up a portal but he was debating whether he should go through or not. It was rare that Chiron called him to a gathering with any of the other cabin leaders so he was more than a little nervous. Well, maybe not nervous — maybe just a little worried that a fight would be sure to follow his arrival. Once he gathered up enough nerve, he stepped out of the black portal and into the meeting of the cabin heads.

Everyone glanced at him when he arrived. It was rare to see him anywhere involving people so this was a real treat.

"Glad to you decided to join us, Gavin," Chiron said with a low grunt.

Gavin moved past him, carefully meeting the eyes of most of the campers that were staring. Most of them either didn't know who he was or weren't very fond of him. He chuckled to himself before sitting down besides Adrianna, a daughter of Dionysus. She glanced at him and smiled before turning her attention back to the circle.

"So why'd you call all of us here, Chiron?" asked Keith McKnight, the leader of the Apollo cabin.

The old centaur glanced around the table before nodding. "A satyr has alerted me of two possible half-bloods that have been found a little North of California. There will be a team of three demigods going. Are there any takers?"

A hand rose upward from the group. A smile played on Chiron's lips and a frown curved over Gavin's face.

"Percy I assume you'll take charge and lead this mission?" Chiron asked hopefully.

Percy Jackson gave a goofy grin at his mentor before nodding his head. "Uh — sure, Chiron, only if you think its best." Some of the campers gave Percy a light tap on the back to congratulate him.

Gavin simply groaned and glanced over at Adrianna before whispering, "Do you mind telling me why they're acting so surprised about this entire thing?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "He gets at least seven quests a month. This really isn't anything new."

Gavin nodded his head before averting his attention back to the table.

"Is there anyone else that would like to volunteer?" Chiron asked.

Percy and Annabeth seemed to be having their own conversation, involving quite a few hand motions from Percy and several groans from Annabeth. In the end it seemed that Percy won over and Annabeth ended up volunteering for the mission.

"I'll be the one picking the last person to go on this mission." Chiron spoke softly under the celebrating that was going on. "Gavin, you'll be the last one to go. "

There was a silence that fell over the entire room. All eyes fell on Chiron. Most people didn't know anything about Gavin so maybe they had reason to be skeptical of this interesting choice.

"Isn't that the Twilight guy that hates going on in the sun or something?" Brittany, the head of the Aphrodite cabin asked.

A low snicker came from Adrianna; she found people calling Gavin one of the Twilight vampires hilarious. But Gavin thought it was a little short of flattering.

"Why yes, that's me; my father _is_ god of darkness so excuse me for not being able to handle the sunlight. You know, it's just like with your mother being the goddess of beauty, your brothers and sisters can't form a single intelligent thought that doesn't involve something useless. Like I don't know, _love _or _fashion_."

The table fell back into silence as everyone glanced at Gavin. Each one wore a different facial expression. Some a look of disgust, others a kind of pitying look. Some, like Adrianna, had a look of amusement.

"Right…" Chiron started. "Well, the group will leave immediately. Pack your things and meet in front of the camp barrier. Your ride will meet you there. Meeting adjourned."

Each camp leader stood to their feet and made their way from the Big House heading back to their own separate cabins. Gavin made a quick escape by means of the shadows; he didn't want to actually have to talk with his teammates. That would be too much like bonding, and he _hated _bonding.

Once he had everything that he was sure would come in handy, he started heading for the meeting point before sighing quietly to himself.

"California, here we come."

Actually getting to California was easier than Chiron had originally thought it would be. With Gavin assisting the team, transport was made simple by the effects of his shadow travel, no matter how much the young half-blood protested and said he would've preferred a plane.

A large black portal opened up right in the middle of San Francisco. Out of said portal stepped three fairly tired demigods. Percy was used to the shadow travel thanks to the numerous times Nico had done it, but Annabeth was a different case; she was a little shaken up for lack of better words. Gavin was doing the best out of three, though he would never openly admit to being tired anyway.

"Think could've made our entrance any more obvious, Gavin?" Annabeth asked sarcastically.

A dark smirk played on Gavin's lips as he chuckled quietly. "I sure could've. Think about it, I could have gone with my original plan on making the portal appear on top of a bridge and watched the two of you fall off."

Annabeth and Percy stood looking dumbfounded at each other as Gavin continued moving forward as if what he said was completely and utterly _average_.

With the little information they had been given, Annabeth was able to make a half-decent guess as to where the two demigods were hanging out. The place was rather odd, or at least for children — they were reported to normally be seen hanging out in the forest that rested a little outside of the city limits.

Upon arrival the group took instant notice to the strange things in the forest. Some of the trees had been broken down and the ground showed obvious human footprints. Another set of footprints followed behind but sadly none of the group could identify the creature in question

"I'm assuming these two have had quite a few run-ins with monsters," said Annabeth, her brain whizzing with ideas. "The tracks are human but there aren't any obvious tracks to what's caused the broken trees."

Gavin's eyes glanced around the forest trying to find something that would help to lead them to the supposed demigods. A small patch of black within the lush green tress caught his immediate attention. He moved to it silently before kneeling down and examining it; it seemed to be the remains of a shadow portal.

"This can't be possible." Percy and Annabeth glanced over at him quietly before stepping over to examine what he had found.

"What is it Gavin, find anything useful?" Percy asked in his mock intelligent voice.

"It's the remains of a shadow portal. These demigods can either use shadow travel or Nico's been making late night trips to San Francisco and not telling us about it."

Both demigods behind him gave a silent nod. "Think you can make it bigger and help us travel through it?" Annabeth asked, a gleam of expectancy in her eyes.

Gavin nodded his head quietly and extended his hand to the portal. Shadows swirled around, helping to recreate the portal before them. He moved forward and motioned his two 'assistants' to follow. "Fair warning: I don't have a clue as to where this leads. Be on guard."

The three stepped through the black portal and prepared for anything that could come their way.

**xOx**

Low hissing helped to accompany the demigods as they passed through the swirling portal. Percy glanced around before uncapping his faithful sword, Riptide. Annabeth pulled her invisibility cap over her head and disappeared a few milliseconds later. Gavin walked a few paces behind Percy; the area they had appeared in was dimly lit and was just perfect for the young son of darkness. The surrounding trees around them seemed to bend inward adding more to the darkness of the forest.

The sound of a goat's scream caught the attention of three and before they knew it they were breaking into a full fledged run. Greek curses and even a few American ones seemed to echo from within the undergrowth of the forest. They all came to a stop at the sight of satyr with a broken leg sitting on the ground yelling into the depths of the forest.

"What happened?" Percy asked quietly.

The satyr glanced upward, a look of panic and guilt on his face. "It snuck up behind me! There was nothing I could do. You'll find it in the middle of the forest!"

Gavin didn't waste any time listening to what the satyr was saying. He had bigger things on his mind at the moment. Once he was completely surrounded by nothing but darkness in the middle of the large forest, he knew he'd reached the right place. The hissing he heard earlier had gotten louder and was now resounding from everywhere.

"Is — is someone there?" the voice of a young boy resounded. "Please, help me! My sister was turned to stone by this — snake thing."

He wracked his brain trying to think of possibilities for a 'snake thing' in Greek myths. The first and most obvious choice was Medusa or one of her three sisters, but Medusa wouldn't be around for a while; Percy had made sure of that. A loud hiss and something wrapping around his stomach broke him out of his thoughts.

Large blue eyes filled his vision and loud hisses filled the area as the boy screamed. "That's it! It's the thing that turned my sister into stone!" The obvious monster flexed its skin and what felt like knives extended from its skin before stabbing into Gavin's body.

Within seconds he knew exactly what the beast was. It was something he had learned about while doing research into different branches of Greek mythology. The beast was known simply as a 'Basilisk'.

He knew three very important things about the beast. One, it could release poison from its body by stabbing prey with its skin. Two, it had the power to turn people to stone. And three, it was supposedly a snake-bird hybrid so if it took flight he wouldn't be surprised.

With a low grunt, Gavin began to slowly crawl free from the hold of the monster. It seemed to enjoy playing with its prey and allowed him to simply slip out of grasp. Once he was free he made a roll to make sure he gave himself enough room to function.

He grasped his swords hilt and pulled it free from its sheath. Slowly, he began to look over his body and took notice of the multiple cuts he had. The beast had slowly been injecting him with poison as a means to delay his efforts.

"Isn't that fan_fucking_tastic?"

He rolled to the left before shifting to his feet and rushing the beast from the side. It hissed and thrashed its tail up and down for a few seconds as a mean to distract the young demigod. His vision blurred for a moment but he kept his cool and moved forward towards its left side.

The fact that it was dark might've been aiding him in keep conscious but the poison was taking over fast and he could feel his body slowly begin to give out. He had to kill the beast and do it fast. If not well, he'd be snake chow and the Percy would get to claim victory and that was something he couldn't let happen.

With a grunt he was rushing straight towards the monster, being sure to evade the assault that its tail. He jumped back and found his opportunity. The tail of the Basilisk was stuck in the ground. It trying to enjoy its prey had gotten to excited and stabbed the ground to deep. He gave a dark smile before slashing into the beast; it gave a loud hiss before erupting into a cloud of gold dust.

He staggered before falling backwards onto the ground. His eyes darted around and he smiled when he saw the kid and his now-normal sister were okay. With a satisfied sigh he fell backwards into unconsciousness just as Annabeth ran into the clearing.

**xOx**

He awoke to the sound of a door opening and closing. A figure loomed over him and the taste of ambrosia entered his mouth. His mouth closed around the sweet substance as he forced himself to chew and swallow.

"Gods, that stuff tastes just like grapes," he coughed hoarsely. A chuckle escaped the person beside him and he instantly recognized the voice. His left eye opened slowly and his eyebrow arched upward. "Adrianna, what're you doing in San Francisco?"

The daughter of Dionysus giggled before patting his head. "You're back at camp, Gavin."

He forced himself to sit up and coughed as a result.

"Don't push yourself to much. The Apollo cabin managed to get all the poison out of your body but, you'll be bed ridden for a while," Adrianna said.

A soft groan escaped his lips as he nodded his head softly. "Mind telling me what happened?"

"Well, where do you want me start?" she began, grinning. "Would you prefer the part where Percy and Annabeth called you a hero or the part where you called out my name in your sleep?"

He rolled his eyes before giving a hoarse cough.

Adrianna leaned down and kissed his forehead gently before snickering. "Go ahead and get some sleep, _hero_."

He closed his eyes and allowed sleep to wash over his body. For once he actually enjoyed the term 'hero' — it wasn't being used to glorify some man in a cape or a masked superhero. It was being used to describe him, yet even if the word contradicted who he was, well… being called a hero was nice every once in a while.


End file.
